location-tracker 1.6.2

Self-hosted location tracking dashboard with encrypted cookies, SQLite storage, and adaptive polling

Location Tracker

A self-hosted location tracking dashboard that polls Google Maps location sharing and visualizes movement history on an interactive map. Runs as a background daemon with a real-time web interface.

Features

• Real-time tracking -- Polls Google Maps shared locations with adaptive intervals (15s when driving, 10min when stationary)
• Interactive dashboard -- Dark-themed Leaflet map with path visualization, heatmaps, stop detection, and timeline scrubbing
• Self-tracking -- Track your own position via browser geolocation
• Encrypted cookie storage -- Google auth tokens encrypted at rest with Fernet, key stored in macOS Keychain
• Auto cookie refresh -- Headless browser automatically re-authenticates when cookies expire
• SQLite storage -- Location history stored in an indexed SQLite database with WAL mode
• Mobile responsive -- Bottom-sheet sidebar on phones, touch-friendly controls
• Multiple export formats -- JSON, CSV, and GeoJSON
• Persistent daemon -- Optional launchd integration to survive reboots
• CLI query tools -- Look up anyone's latest location or history from the terminal

Install

From PyPI

pipx install location-tracker
# or
uv tool install location-tracker

From source

git clone https://github.com/dcondrey/location-tracker.git
cd location-tracker
./setup.sh

Manual setup

uv sync
uv run location-tracker setup

Getting Started

# 1. Set your Google account email
location-tracker config --email [e-mail]

# 2. One command does everything: install browser, configure DNS, authenticate, start, and open dashboard
location-tracker setup

That's it. The setup command installs Chromium, configures tracker.local in /etc/hosts, opens a browser for Google sign-in, encrypts the cookies, starts the daemon, and opens the dashboard automatically.

The dashboard runs at http://tracker.local. Flask listens on port 7070; macOS packet filter forwards port 80 transparently. If the hostname doesn't resolve, use http://localhost:7070.

Prerequisites

• Python 3.11+
• macOS (uses Keychain for cookie encryption, launchd for persistence)
• uv package manager (install)
• A Google account with location sharing enabled

Commands

Tracking

Command	Description
on	Start the tracker daemon and web dashboard
off	Stop the tracker
status	Check if the tracker is running

Authentication

Command	Description
cookies	Open browser to authenticate with Google
test	Verify cookies are valid and list shared contacts

When cookies expire, the tracker automatically attempts a headless browser refresh using the saved browser profile. If that fails (e.g. Google requires re-login), it logs an error and you re-run location-tracker cookies.

Configuration

Command	Description
config --email [e-mail]	Set the Google account email
config	Show current configuration
setup	Full setup: install browser, DNS, authenticate, start, and open dashboard

Service Management

Command	Description
install	Install as a launchd service (auto-start on login)
uninstall	Remove the launchd service
dns	Manually set up http://tracker.local hostname
dns-remove	Remove custom hostname

Querying Data

Command	Description
where <person>	Show someone's latest known location
history <person> --days 7	Show recent location history (last 20 entries)
stats	Print tracking statistics (distance, stops, dwell time)
map --days 7 --output map.html	Generate a static HTML map
purge <days>	Delete location records older than N days

Dashboard

The web dashboard at http://tracker.local provides:

• Map layers -- Road, Satellite, Hybrid, Terrain, and Dark via Google/CARTO tiles
• Visualization modes -- Path (color-coded routes with stop nodes), Heatmap, and Points
• Time filtering -- 24h, 3 days, 7 days, 30 days, 90 days, or all time
• Timeline scrubber -- Drag to view historical positions; shows date/time labels
• Person cards -- Click to focus; shows speed badge (Stationary/Walking/Driving/Highway)
• Self-tracking -- Enable browser geolocation to appear on the map
• Export -- Download data as JSON, CSV, or GeoJSON
• Toast notifications -- Visual feedback for all actions
• Mobile layout -- Bottom-sheet sidebar on screens under 640px

How It Works

Adaptive Polling

The tracker polls Google Maps location sharing via locationsharinglib. Polling frequency adapts to detected movement:

Speed	Category	Poll Interval
> 60 km/h	Highway	15 seconds
10-60 km/h	Driving	30 seconds
1-10 km/h	Walking	60 seconds
< 1 km/h	Stationary	10 minutes

This gives you detailed path traces when someone is moving, and conserves resources when they're not. The tracked person receives no notification; this is a passive read of data they've chosen to share.

Cookie Lifecycle

1. Capture: location-tracker cookies opens a Chromium browser to Google sign-in. Cookies are detected automatically when login completes (supports MFA, 15-minute timeout).
2. Encryption: Cookies are encrypted with cryptography.Fernet and saved as cookies.enc. The encryption key is stored in macOS Keychain, never on the filesystem.
3. Usage: On each poll, cookies are decrypted to a temporary file, passed to the API, then the temp file is deleted.
4. Expiry: When Google rejects the cookies, the tracker attempts an automatic headless refresh using the persistent browser profile. If the Google session is still valid, fresh cookies are captured without user interaction. If not, the tracker logs an error and continues polling at the default interval until you re-run location-tracker cookies.

Security

• Encrypted at rest -- Auth cookies encrypted with Fernet; key in macOS Keychain
• Localhost only -- Flask binds to 127.0.0.1; not accessible from the network
• XSS protection -- All user-controlled data HTML-escaped before rendering
• Input validation -- Lat/lon bounds checking on all coordinate inputs
• Atomic storage -- SQLite with WAL mode for concurrent read/write safety
• No plaintext secrets -- Plaintext cookies.txt auto-migrated and deleted on first run

Data Storage

Location history is stored in a local SQLite database (location_history.db) with indexed columns for person, timestamp, and compound queries. Existing location_history.json files are automatically migrated on first run.

Use location-tracker purge <days> to enforce a retention policy.

Project Structure

location-tracker/
  main.py            # CLI entry point and daemon management
  tracker.py         # Location polling, stats, and static map generation
  dashboard.py       # Flask web server and API endpoints
  db.py              # SQLite database layer
  cookie_store.py    # Encrypted cookie storage (Fernet + Keychain)
  get_cookies.py     # Browser-based Google authentication
  templates/
    index.html       # Dashboard HTML
  static/
    style.css        # Dashboard styles (dark theme, mobile responsive)
    app.js           # Dashboard JavaScript (Leaflet map, real-time updates)
  tests/
    test_db.py       # Database layer tests
    test_tracker.py  # Tracker logic tests
    test_dashboard.py # Dashboard function tests
  setup.sh           # One-command install script
  build.sh           # PyInstaller standalone build

API Endpoints

The dashboard exposes these local API endpoints:

Method	Path	Description
GET	/api/locations?days=7	Location history with per-person speed info
GET	/api/stats	Tracking statistics per person
GET	/api/poll-status	Current polling interval and speed category
GET	/api/export?format=json	Export all data (json, csv, geojson)
POST	/api/self-location	Submit browser geolocation

Data Directory

All data is stored in ~/.local/share/location-tracker/:

File	Purpose
location_history.db	SQLite database with all location records
cookies.enc	Encrypted Google auth cookies
browser_profile/	Persistent Chromium browser profile for cookie refresh
tracker.log	Daemon log file (rotated at 10MB)

Config is stored in ~/.config/location-tracker/config.json.

Troubleshooting

http://tracker.local doesn't load:

• Check DNS: ping tracker.local should resolve to 127.0.0.1
• Check daemon: location-tracker status
• Check port forwarding: sudo pfctl -sn should show the rdr rule
• Try direct port: http://localhost:7070
• Re-run setup: location-tracker setup

"Cookies expired" errors:

• The tracker auto-refreshes cookies headlessly when possible
• If auto-refresh fails, re-run: location-tracker cookies

"No cookies found" on first start:

• Run location-tracker setup which handles everything

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for development setup, code style, and areas where help is wanted.

License

MIT